fromthepresident VA Reform A
The nation has an opportunity to enhance the delivery of health care to veterans — and MOAA is part of the process, making recommendations and off ering solutions.
As we prepare to celebrate Veterans Day Nov. 11, I’m reminded of Sen. Johnny Isakson’s remark at MOAA’s September Warrior-Family Symposium (see page 56): “When it comes to veteran health care, there are no excuses.” After problems with access to VA health
care in Phoenix made the news last year, I wrote President Barack Obama as well as congressional leaders urging action to ad- dress red tape and ineffi ciencies thwarting veterans’ access to the care they’ve earned and to establish a high-level commission to map the future of VA care. Now, with the passage of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, Congress has established the VA Commission on Care recommended by MOAA. MOAA called for an “independent, bi- partisan commission … of leading public and private experts on health care delivery to examine if the VA needs to change its business model.” MOAA has long urged a broader consideration of how the VA and private partners might “collaborate more extensively to ensure world-class access and service delivery for our nation’s veter- ans and their family members.” The Veterans Health Administration
(VHA) operates one of the largest and most complex health systems in the U.S., with 1,600 care sites and about 300,000 employ- ees caring for nearly 6 million veterans. Its challenges include a unique and chang- ing patient population, congressionally mandated funding, variations in scope and
scale of operations, and service delivery, governance, and oversight. The Choice Act directed an independent assessment to pro- vide a better understanding of the VHA and its place within the larger VA system. The assessment*, led by Mitre Corp.,
identifi ed four systemic fi ndings aff ecting the VHA’s mission execution: 1) a discon- nect in the alignment of demand, resources, and authorities; 2) uneven bureaucratic operations and processes; 3) nonintegrated variations in clinical and business data and tools; and 4) leaders who are not fully empowered due to a lack of clear authority, priorities, and goals. I feel confi dent Congress, the Commis- sion on Care, and the VA can work together and with groups like MOAA to forge a roadmap to preserve the core of the VA’s direct-service-delivery expertise while capitalizing on increased collaboration with community providers. I believe both the Mitre report and the Commission on Care’s own fi ndings can improve effi ciencies at the VA dramatically, if leaders seize the momentum and propel it forward. There should be no excuses when it comes to health care for those “who shall have borne the battle,” to quote President Abraham Lincoln. MOAA approaches each day as Veterans Day, and we never stop serving.
— Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN (Ret)
*online: Read the Mitre Corp.’s assessment at
http://1.usa.gov/1KkV2Vf. 12 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2015
PHOTO: SEAN SHANAHAN
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100